Memory chipmaker SK Hynix to raise $1 bn in dollar bonds

South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, is seeking to raise about $1 billion in dollar bonds.

The chipmaking arm of SK Corp. has tapped eight investment banks to issue three- and five-year bonds, according to Reuters on Wednesday.

SK Hynix stated that the details of the bond issuance will be determined according to market conditions, and its purpose is to repay its existing loans.

The company posted operating losses for four straight quarters until the third quarter of last year. It posted a 1.8 trillion won ($1.4 billion) deficit during the July-September period of 2023.  

Market watchers estimate the company’s earnings improved in the fourth quarter of last year amid an increase in high bandwidth memory (HBM) demand for high-performance computing systems and recovery in the memory chip industry.

SK Hynix logged a 239.3 billion won operating loss in the October-December period of last year, according to a consensus estimate reported by financial data research firm FnGuide. The chipmaker is expected to mark about 550 billion won in operating profit in the first quarter of this year.

The company recently started developing a process to synthesize gallium nitride (GaN), a next-generation semiconductor material, via its foundry subsidiary SK Keyfoundry.

SK Hynix acquired a 100% stake in the foundry from Magnus PEF for 576 billion won last year and changed the subsidiary’s name to SK Keyfoundry on Jan. 1.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com


Jihyun Kim edited this article.